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Historical films

Tipping the Velvet (2002)
Directed by Geoffrey Sax
BBC dramatisation (by Andrew Davis) of Sarah Waters' acclaimed debut novel set in 1890s Britain, which tells of a lesbian love affair between a male impersonator music hall star and a young girl who works as cook and waitress in her father's seaside restaurant.

Topsy-Turvy (1999)
Directed by Mike Leigh
Based on the lives of Victorian satirical composers Gilbert and Sullivan. After a series of poorly received productions, their relationship is strained to breaking point. Their friends and associates finally succeed in getting the two to work together again, which opens the way to one of their greatest successes: The Mikado.

Mrs Brown (1997)
Directed by John Madden
Queen Victoria is the world's most powerful woman, and John Brown, a simple Scottish Highlander. Their extraordinary friendship is brought to the screen in this film, starring the brilliantly cast Judy Dench and Billy Connolly.

Wilde (1997)
Directed by Brian Gilbert
Stephen Fry makes a charismatic and tragic Wilde, the writer, aesthete and wit whose homosexuality causes him enormous torment as he juggles marriage, fatherhood and responsibility with his obsessive love for Lord Alfred Douglas ('Bosie'; Jude Law). After legal action instigated by Bosie's father, Wilde refuses to flee England and is sentenced to two years' hard labour by the judiciary of an intolerant Victorian society.

Little Dorrit (1988)
Directed by Christine Edzard
This period piece is considered by many to be the finest evocation of a Dickens novel, despite its unwieldiness (two parts that total more than six hours). Other films based on Dickens' novels include: Oliver Twist (1948), Oliver! (1968), A Christmas Carol (1938, 1984 1997), Scrooge (1935, 1951 [with Alastair Sim as Scrooge], 1970), Scrooged (1988), Great Expectations (more than 10 versions including David Lean's 1946 masterpiece), David Copperfield (1935, with W C Fields as Mr Micawber), The Old Curiosity Shop (1934, 1975) and The Pickwick Papers (1913, 1952, 1985).

The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)
Directed by Tony Richardson
This blistering satire chronicles the events that led to the British involvement in the Crimean War against Russia in 1854 and to the fierce Battle of Balaclava. This climaxed with the near-destruction of the Light Brigade due to errors of judgement and rash planning by the inept British commanders. David Hemmings (Captain Nolan), Trevor Howard (Lord Cardigan), John Gielgud (Lord Raglan) and Harry Andrews (Lord Lucan) star.

The Lady with the Lamp (1951)
Directed by Herbert Wilcox
A reverential biopic of Florence Nightingale (Anna Neagle) showing her work during the Crimean War. She also has a rather bizarre love affair with Sidney Herbert (Michael Wilding), her conduit to the government.

The Mudlark (1950)
Directed by Jean Negulesco
In 1875 London, young Wheeler (Andrew Ray), who lives by scavenging by the Thames, finds a cameo of Queen Victoria (Irene Dunne) so beautiful that he risks his life to save it. Wanting to see the queen, he slips past the guards and wanders about Windsor Castle, just when a state dinner is in preparation. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Disraeli (Alec Guinness) is struggling to persuade the queen to end her long seclusion.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)
Directed by Alfred L Werker
In this adaptation of the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the master sleuth (Basil Rathbone) hunts his arch-enemy Professor Moriarty (George Zucco), who is planning the crime of the century. Holmes has appeared on celluloid many times, but this version is a gem: Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as his sidekick Dr Watson are compelling, and there are excellent sets and fog so thick it could be cut with a razor.

Victoria the Great (1937)
Directed by Herbert Wilcox
Anna Neagle stars as Queen Victoria in the story of her courtship and marriage to Prince Albert (Anton Walbrook). Director Wilcox, Neagle's husband, had been commissioned by the then king Edward VIII to turn the Broadway hit Victoria Regina into a film to mark the centenary of the queen's accession to the throne. Wilcox and Neagle were also responsible for the sequel Sixty Glorious Years (1938).

The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
Directed by Sidney Franklin
Based on the 1930 play, this biopic tells of distinguished Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett (Norma Shearer), who lives with her tyrannical father (Charles Laughton) until her writing gains the attention of poet Robert Browning (Fredric March), with whom she later elopes. Franklin also directed the inferior 1956 remake starring Jennifer Jones and Bill Travers as the lovers and John Gielgud as the father.

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